Jersey Shore restaurants put together tasty Easter brunches

Holiday-themed gatherings include generous meals and Easter surprises

Executive Chef Edward Daggers lays out desserts to be served during Easter brunch at Atlantic City Country Club in Northfield.

David Khanhan of Moorstown, Burlington County, and his five year-old son Stanley, have some fresh fruit during Easter Brunch at Atlantic City Country Club, Sunday, Apr. 1, 2012 in Northfield.

Joann Hilinski, of Ocean City, left, gets a custom omelet from Elizabeth Penn, of Upper Deerfield Township, Executive Chef Edward Daggers and Dave Goldstein, of Northfield, during a recent brunch at Atlantic City Country Club.

Spring is a time of renewal. Our mild New Jersey weather has given us our colorful seasonal flowers way ahead of schedule. The good foods the springtime brings also begin to arrive fresh at our local markets.

Nowhere is the abundance of spring on display more prominently than on an Easter brunch table. Expect to see many of the seasonal items the spring has to offer from asparagus to lamb and so much more. Anchored by a carving station with prime rib, ham or turkey, brunch allows us to color outside the lines, mixing the favorite foods from breakfast and lunch together.

Easter brunches come a la carte or all-you-can-eat for a fixed price. And if one sweet dessert is a good thing, a whole selection is great. And if a few items, like colorfully decorated hard-cooked eggs, don't seem to make it past the front lawn before the kids find them and drop them into their own Easter baskets, well, blame it on a certain bunny. But don't worry, at Easter Brunch there is plenty of good food to go around.

FIN: A Seafood Experience, Tropicana, 2831 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, 800-345-8767. $55 per person, not including tax and gratuity. Seatings available from 5 to 10 p.m. Fin goes traditional with a choice of FIN's house salad, or classic Caesar salad and a main course of herb-crusted rack of lamb. That is served with a spring vegetable medley, roasted fingerling potatoes with a merlot demi glaze sauce. For dessert, FIN's celebrated pastry chefs are preparing a chocolate turtle cheesecake complete with caramel, chocolate sauce and pecans.

Il Verdi, Tropicana, 2831 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, 800-345-8767. $55 per person, not including tax and gratuity. Seatings available from 6 to 10 p.m. Choose from insalata Caprese with fresh mozzarella, plum tomatoes and torn basil or insalata Cesare to start. The herb-crusted rack of lamb main course is complemented with broccoli rabe, roasted fingerling potatoes and a Barolo demi glaze. A tempting dessert of chocolate turtle cheesecake, drizzled with caramel, chocolate sauce and pecans, is included.